Cats Blu Ray

Prologue: It amazes me how many people will go to a film they already know they will hate, force themselves to sit through it, then come out ranting about how "I KNEW IT WOULD BE BAD." ... Then, why did you go? So, yes. If you already know you hate musicals, or CATS, or CATS the musical, don't bother to watch it. If you know nothing about the show but are interested, watch the 1998 film first. If you love the show and the 1998 film, be prepared for a different interpretation, but still a fun time.As someone who has loved CATS the musical for years, watched the 1998 film countless times, and seen the show live six times, here is my honest review of the new film adaptation. (Note: I've now watched it about ten times and have enjoyed it more each time.)Well. This year's Jellicle Ball was certainly something else. Something else entirely. One of those years when you just want to wake the next morning and forget everything that happened, except the wonderful moments. (The moooooments of happiness...)Let's get the negatives out of the way first:1. Jennyanydots. I thought Taylor Swift would be the worst part of the film, but Rebel Wilson beat her by quite a bit. Apart from Munkustrap and the cute mice, "The Old Gumbie Cat" was one long cringe-fest. Rebel robbed Jenny of any semblance of dignity, and pretty much did the same in every scene she was in. Her stupid jokes and comments were not funny. The best part of the Gumbie Cat scene is watching all the kittens' reactions to everything Jenny does. Meanwhile Munkustrap simply takes it all in stride. His motto is Protect All, Judge None. (He does try to protect the mice and cockroaches from her...not always with success.)2. Judi Dench's singing. I adore Judi Dench, and she made a great motherly figure. I especially loved her interactions with Victoria and Munkustrap and Mistoffelees. However, she struggled on the songs. I don't understand why she didn't just speak everything. If Rex Harrison can get away with it in My Fair Lady, Judi Dench should be able to get away with it in CATS. Still, she overall gets a pass from me, because...she's Dame Judi Dench.Some Neutrals:1. The "Macavity and Growltiger Taking Jellicles Prisoner" sideplot. It was so awkward, but hilarious at the same time. I do wish Munkustrap and Macavity had still had their epic showdown, but Macavity was more of a trickster in this version, not so much a physical confrontation guy. I do like how Skimble, Gus, Jenny, and Bustopher worked together to make Growltiger walk the plank.2. Macavity, specifically the song. I thought I would hate this scene because of Taylor Swift, but I don't think I did. Still not crazy about her voice, but I liked when the other "Macavity Queens" joined in, and the "hypnotising with catnip" was kind of cool. I loved how everyone was trying to help Misto and Victoria sneak away.3. The Live Singing. Tom Hooper is obsessed with everyone singing live on set. That's all well and good, but I prefer the more "polished" studio sound when it comes to films. Just a personal preference.And the Positives (in no certain order):1. Munkustrap! This one was a no-brainer. I love Munkustrap and Robbie Fairchild was a great casting choice. I did think his interactions with Victoria were awkward at times. Was he a fatherly figure, or in love with her? Couldn't tell. (Was this some sort of Lord Melbourne/Queen Victoria reference?) Certainly by the end he had taken on the role of "proud dad who totally ships Mistoria." But anyway, he was so sweet and always trying to take care of others. I also enjoyed all his solos - and the fact that he even got a few extra ones. Munkustrap singing Skimbleshanks? Munkustrap singing Misto's song? YES, please! (Sorry, Tugger.)2. Mistoffelees. I thought it was an interesting change to have him struggling with confidence issues and still trying to perfect his magical abilities. His immediate and obvious besottedness with Victoria was adorable. He was just adorable all round. I do wish his song hadn't had so many of the awkward pauses in it during his multiple attempts to bring Old D back, but it was still enjoyable. The way he magically made all the musical instruments float up to the ceiling and play the accompaniment?? So cool! And everyone's reactions to him are fun to watch. He has some adorable interactions with Syllabub.3. Victoria. She was simply lovely. I do wish she had had more dance solos. I thought the bit she danced with Munkustrap just before the Invitation was a bit different, but still good. Certainly no replacement for the usual Victoria opening Invitation dance. I thought her singing was lovely; you could tell she wasn't fully comfortable with it, but that worked well for the state of uncertainty she was in as a character.4. Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer. I thought their song and scene would be my favorite. Well, it ended up being my second-favorite because of what's coming next on the list. But I have no complaints about them whatsoever. Irish Teazer and Cockney Jerrie? Yes, please! Original London version of the song? Yesssss. Doing Macavity's dirty work but then pleading, "It was just a bit of fun!"? Totally them.5. SKIMBLESHANKS. This, by far, was my favorite scene in the entire film. The dancing, the set, the costume (hey, the trousers and hat worked for him!), and (the most unexpected) Steve McRae's voice! I had no idea he could sing that well! He sounds so much like the original London Skimble!6. CORICOPAT. There are no words. He is THE most adorable kitten and an amazing dancer!7. Corey John Snide and Kolton Krouse. THESE TWO. It's an absolute crime they are so difficult to spot. Now I can find them in nearly every scene, but that's after having watched the film ten times. These amazing former Cats Broadway cast members deserve much more recognition than they've had.8. THE ENTIRE ENSEMBLE. Ditto everything said above about Corey and Kolton. It's most tiresome having all the attention go to the Big Names when it's Robbie and the Ensemble that carries this entire film.Overall: I enjoyed it. The cringey bits were pretty cringey, but it hasn't stopped me from watching it multiple times. And honestly at this point I just laugh off the cringe moments, because they're caused by the ones (*cough* WilsonCorden*cough*) who had no idea what they were doing, didn't care much about the film, knew nothing about the show or its origins (seriously; Wilson thought the poems were from the seventeenth century), and didn't enter the Jellicle world the way the others did. Robbie Fairchild and Bluey Robinson and Steve McRae and Les Twins and the whole ensemble? AHmazing. They were true Jellicle Cats.

If I were a movie producer that invested in this film and we were being shown the product after it was "finished", I would've put my head in my hand and said "What have you done?"To say that this is the worst stage-to-film adaptation is to put it lightly. This is an abomination to what stage is - a place for art to express itself in song and dance. What this is, "Cats", is a CGI (and I don't mind CGI) monster run amok.It's almost like, why even have them CGI? When the actors dance they look stilted and deranged as if we're watching those cheap dollar bin rip-offs of "Cats" rather than an authorized film of the Andrew Llloyd Webber stage musical than ran for decades.Jason Derulo does everything he can to ruin the musical by playing as if he's in his own concert rather than the film, Rebel Wilson did everything to destroy the goodwill she'd gotten in her last two films (except her ode to Nazis in that other disaster film she made), and Idris Elba may be the "Sexiest Man Alive" for People Magazine but is far from being "the cat" with that title despite the best he tried to be convincing as anything other than a man in a coat who doesn't know what a cat is.There's always a problem with bringing stage plays to the screen and some people know when to draw, like "Hamilton" that just did a stage reproduction rather than go full out mess like "Les Miserables" that wanted to make a period piece and built the sets to prove it. "Evita" lent itself to being out in the real world, as did "Phantom of the Opera", but then those two were also driven by music (and even if you didn't like it, you had Madonna in one, and rock songs in the other).But "Cats"? By its own definition it was supposed to be whimsical. I mean, you went to the theater, you had "cats" dancing in the aisles, on the stage, it was a "spectacle", and that's how we liked it.But, dang, couldn't they have at least tried here?For one thing, no CGI. There's a stage play recording of this musical that you're far better off watching because they understood it's not the razzle dazzle you're after, it was the "spectacle". This film thinks you wanted your pop stars and to eat them too. But with everyone overacting, oversinging, I can't tell if it's all their fault or the fact that they're doing so in CGI that makes them look like a creepy piece of nothing. I mean, by the time you get to Jennifer Hudson you wish someone back then would've stopped and told everyone they are not individually the star of the show, to cut it out, and just be a d*mn cat. I mean, she's wearing a coat. And she's a cat. A fur cat. We were already suspending (not much) our disbelief, now we just want to watch the movie, not wish Dolby sound hadn't been invented or that we were members of the Academy being asked to vote now, now!I don't know what happened here, I can tell you that from the movie trailer it looked like it had a chance and even when the film was released I wanted to defend the film, but now actually watching it, I can tell you that the entire thing was a mistake. The. Entire. Thing.There are no redeeming qualities in it at all. Can you be entertained? Maybe by the flash and all that, but it will not be redeemed. What this is is an overindulgence of everything - too much ego (cue James Cordon), too much grandstanding (Derulo), too much overacting (Hudson), too little to offer (You-Know-Who).I can see now why everyone wanted an apology.And especially to its fans. The ones who went to see this live. And to newer audiences who are looking at them like, "This is what you all used to go watch?" No wonder they're hooked on TikTok.So what was it that everyone was after? Why not just have them in good physical cat costumes, which could've been done - the stage musical proved that, and just have them sing and dance around the sets? Why not treat them as more human because that's what this tale was about anyway? I mean, if it was really based on cats it'd be about the horror of a half-filled bowl, hairballs, knocking things over for no reason, and destroying the furniture.I mean, put this in perspective of the actual art of filmmaking. Forget the nightmare that it is and let's think about what exactly did everyone think this was contributing to the art of film or to be in the cannon of the musical which is all but wiped out since "Chicago". Is this what we're trying to accomplish? Was this for the fans? No one would be able to get through this that had any sensibility that they were willing to stop at a stage play, pay $1,000 for good seats, and then watch people in cat costumes sing and then dance for some nonsensical plot of being chosen to go somewhere. Was it for just general audiences? I can tell you even the most pop culture fanatic among us (like myself) would not be able to get through this. Younger audiences? They can get all these people free singing and dancing on YouTube. Kids? You might as well have gone full cartoon for their attention, but even they would see through this garbage.So, really, what can redeem this? What else beyond, "We had a vision", can redeem this that you made and thought that someone would appreciate? This isn't cinema, if that's what you're thinking, they go in with purpose. Take "Goodfellas" for example, which I just watched which is why I reference it. It's literally about NOTHING. But d*mn if everyone in that film didn't do it all with class. This one? They did it all with flash.And that's unfortunately not the same thing.It's just pure ridiculousness. I can't even call it a potential "cult classic" because who would be able to sit through this? It's not like "Glitter" where at least you have a diva presence that you'd watch for anything. Who do you have here? Cordon? He's in one other monstrosity ("Into the Woods") and does carpool karaoke and now he's your go-to? No one else is available? And I'm sorry, but who the h*ll knows Derulo that well they'll care that he's a cat? Certainly not the audiences who've watched this on the stage and not even the younger generation who would probably have preferred Lil Nas X.Complete and utter trash.I mean, it had one shining moment when the character sang "Beautiful Ghosts" - an original song not in the stage musical that is the only song that made sense in the film - and then Judi Dench (a classic who along with Ian McKellan is wasted here) starts singing and ruins it.Save your money and your sensibility.